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Sunday, 27 July 2014

Review ~ Promised (The One Night Trilogy 1) by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Reviewed by Donna ~ 3.5 “I concur” stars!!

“I believe that you’re the master of your own destiny – your own decisions and actions are what influence your life course. But unfortunately, the decisions and actions of others impact this course, too, and sometimes you’re powerless to prevent it.”

It pains me to write this as I am a huge Jodi Ellen Malpas fan but this book just didn’t do it for me. It was an OK read but not a fantastic read. I know that I will probably be in the minority but I have to be honest. For me, I feel that this is a backbone book, the foundations have been laid, the back stories told (to a certain extent) and the characters have been introduced. Don’t get me wrong, the writing as always was flawless but I just struggled to read it, it didn’t grip me like the This Man trilogy, I took 3 days to read this and that is just unheard of.

Olivia/Livy was a great character, she had her weaknesses but she kept them all hidden, but on the outside she was all sass and bravado. She was strong, she had hit rock bottom before and was determined never to repeat. She had lost herself for a while and now seven years later she was determined to be more than her mother. She still had that sense of rejection, her mother hadn’t loved her enough to stay, she felt abandoned, and after all, her mother had left her in preference for a life of being a high class prostitute. Her mother would have rather had the money and the life rather than care for the daughter she had, instead she left that to her mother. It seems though that the life had caught up to her as she mysteriously disappeared when Livy was young.

Livy had searched for her mother when she was seventeen, this lead her into the depraved world that her mother was a part of. Her real identity was soon discovered and she was sent home but not before plenty of meaningless sex and a permanent alcohol induced stupor to get her through it. She went back to her Nan who needed her more, she cleaned up her act, has been tee-total since and has not had sex…that was seven years ago. Now working in a coffee shop will her life be turned upside down again?

M…mmmmm what can I say about M…

M is mysterious. M is masterful. M is meticulous. M is masculine. M is memorable. M is mind-blowing. I wanted to know more about him, there is still a lot to learn, he has impeccable manners, he is obviously rich, but where does this wealth come from? He had his own charm and swagger about him but at times he could be domineering. He was suave, he was sophisticated and he was yummy! He had his little quirks, he was OCD, he liked eye contact when being spoken to but he was courteous and polite, he was just a gentleman, but was there more than met the eye?

“I’ll never be a drunken fumble, Olivia. Every time I take you, you’ll remember it. Each and every moment will be etched on that beautiful mind of yours for ever.’ He gently taps my temple. ‘Every kiss. Every touch. Every word.”

Livy and M’s paths cross in the coffee shop when M comes in for some coffee, Livy’s jaw is left on the counter, she becomes a bumbling mess and totally messes up his coffee, M lets her know of course, but it seems that they are both as taken with each other. Is this the start of something beautiful or is just One Night Promised? One Night is all that M is willing to offer in the first instance, it soon becomes twenty-four hours and then he realises that actually, maybe, he doesn’t want this to end? Have M and Livy finally met their match?

“After disposing of the cup, the saucer, and the offending napkin, then locking up with Sylvie, I finally reach the conclusion that M stands for Moron.”

As I said above the writing was impeccable, flawless in fact, I can always appreciate fantastic writing, but for some reason I wasn’t captivated and the most annoying thing is I can’t even really explain why. I loved the characters, I loved the premise and at the end I was left wanting more. For me personally I felt that the pace of the book was a bit off, especially in the middle, Jodi normally has that fast paced, impact style and this was the complete opposite. I did find it a bit slow in places and this is what I think made it drag for me. But please let me remind you that 3.5 stars is still “I liked this book” and as I said I want more, the last 20% really picked up in pace and drama and the ending was a real OMG moment. I will admit I had kind of guessed it but it still had that shock factor when it was delivered. In true Jodi style the book is littered with humour and none more so than from “Nan” who was my favourite of all the side characters, everyone will want her for themselves. All the side characters had their place and added to story. I loved her gay BBF Greg he was hilarious and was always there for Livy. In short, the foundations have been laid and now I am expecting the castle that I know that Jodi will deliver, bring on November!!

Nan ~“Before you know it, you’re being measured for false teeth and you won’t dare cough or sneeze through fear of pissing yourself.”

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